Team
- Daniel Breault
- Anastasija Lazarevska
- Michael Limo
Mentor
Prof. Jennifer Kruschwitz
Background
IRL Glasses is a product with the goal of minimizing the amount of technology people have to interact with on a daily basis. The first edition was made by Scott Blew and Ivan Cash. This version of the product had the ability to block light coming from linearly polarized displays. This proved effective on a wide variety of screens, but the type of screen people tend to spend the most amount of time looking at is their phone. Our mission was to find a way to create the next edition of the product that would be able to block, or significantly dim, the display of an iPhone 14.
Measurements
Using the PR-655, we were able to measure the wavelengths of light emitted by various phone screens. We did this by aligning the device and the phone screen at normal incidence with one foot of distance between them in a dark room, where the only light being captured by the camera was that of the phone.
We used a series of test images that we generated in MATLAB to assure ourselves that we were getting the full spectrum of the phone, as well as to isolate its color components.
After our initial runs, we used already coated lenses of a similar application to test the efficacy of such a product when compared to its nominal design (and also to get a better idea of what the angular sensitivity would look like).
Data Collection
Using the PR-655, we collected the following spectra. The top plot is for many different kinds of phones from many different manufacturers. After these initial runs of data, we began to focus primarily on the iPhone 14, whose spectrum (bottom) was divided into its color components as displayed by the phone.
Design Work
Using OptiLayer, we went through several design iterations and ultimately came to a design that minimized the amount of light from an iPhone 14 source while maximizing the amount of light coming through from the D65 daylight illuminant.
Then, we communicated our needs, current designs, and specifications to Optimax who helped us determine a more manufacturable design.
Conclusion
Through this project we have investigated the possibility of eyewear that blocks the emission spectra of an iPhone 14 while maintaining enough light from an individual’s surroundings to navigate the world around them. These results are promising, and certainly signal the possibility of this being done for normal incidence.
Acknowledgements:
Ivan Cash (IRL Labs)
Scott Blew (IRL Labs)
Jennifer Kruschwitz (University of Rochester)
Wayne Knox (University of Rochester)
Jon Watson (Optimax)
References:
IRL glasses – glasses that block screens – kickstarter.com (no date). Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ivancash/irl-glasses-glasses-that-block-screens?/
IRL Labs. Available at: https://www.irl-labs.co/